Just a brief visit to Estonia, we’ve crossed yet another border and now we’re in Latvia!
We left Pärnu this morning after a cosy night in the carpark and headed for Gauja National Park which turned out to be a bit of a dud but only because we hadn’t done our research and we had no idea to find anything of interest – we did see a strange collection of fancy ‘new builds’ hidden deep in the forest (Liam’s read that apparently this is where the rich and famous of Riga have their holiday homes but we’ve yet to see any Estonian Celebs) so after a bit of bumping about on the back roads we called it quits and headed to the border.
No checkpoints, just a recognisable starry EU sign to drive past and we were into the next country on our trip – the scenery on the way to Riga was nothing special but the roads were ok, a little bit patched together in places but no worse than trying to drive through Cumbria, we came across a few sections of roadworks where they’re obviously upgrading things a bit. The sights got a little more interesting as we hit the outskirts of Riga, lots of huge abandoned warehouses and some military police, we even passed a burnt out bus at one point. Our original plan was to camp in a free carpark by the docks but decided against it, partially due to the fact that I was a little bit worried our van might be the next burnt out vehicle in Riga and also because they were charging €12 per night and there wasn’t even any toilets so instead we headed to Riga City Camp.
The city camp is about 2km out of the old town on the other side of the river and it did the job for €16 a night, it was similar to the city camp in Tallinn in that it was just a concrete carpark behind a sports hall but there was 24hr security, hot showers and toilets. The man on reception was ok, not as helpful or friendly as the staff at Tallinn City Camp but since we weren’t planning on inviting him to tea anyways it wasn’t a problem. We sat out another freak rain shower in the van then set off into the city.
(rub their noses for good luck)
Riga really is a mixed bag, the side of the river where the campsite is seems quite prosperous, nice houses on the quayside, a few skyscrapers rearing their heads here and there and even a little beach and park but when you get onto the bride things go a little downhill. As you look into the distance you can see some abandoned ship works and the like, I think it looks worse as they’ve just been left to rot away instead of being dismantled, and the bridge itself, while impressive, isn’t the prettiest piece of architecture i’ve come across during our Eurotrip.
Basically what i’m saying is that my original perception was that Riga is the very picture of ‘ex-soviet city left to crumble away’. I was worried about safely, dirt and whether it has been worth the driving to get here. However, i’m more than happy to say that i quickly changed my mind.
Riga is a hidden gem, literally, the beauty of the old town is hidden amongst bland new business districts and crumbling, horror movie-esque buildings. The centre of the city is full of wide, tree lined boulevards, quirky pastel coloured houses, upmarket outdoor restaurants in the market squares with people playing live music and as many hipster coffee houses as you could wish for. It truly is a city of contrasts which only adds to its beauty. It also has some really stunning green spaces dotted around such as Vermanes park with its landscaped stream and flowerbeds.
Another strange thing about Riga is that it’s the only city we’ve come across with so many western brands – KFC, Pizza Hut and Costa Coffee.
We enjoyed the city so much we actually walked back in the following morning for a coffee (we’re overloading on coffee now since it’s so very cheap) at the Rocket Bean Cafe (on Kalēju iela street, opposite the department store). A cute little coffee shop, it’s every hipsters dream – the coffee we had was called Magic Pussy which i’ve gotta admit, is one i’ve never tried before but it was very nice. We somehow also ended up in a pastry shop on the way back to the campsite (no idea how this keeps happening but we’ve decided it’s rude to leave without buying something, especially since we’ve discovered that Latvian Pastries may just be our favourite of all time) so I had a doughnut type thing with a custard centre and Liam has a stuffed croissant, although we’re not sure what it was stuffed with – just another mystery from our travelling adventures.
tiny van adventures 